Ngram is a data type used in programming and computational linguistics. It represents sequences of words, characters, or other units of text. An Ngram is a contiguous sequence of N items, where N refers to the number of items in the sequence.

For instance, a 2-gram or bigram represents two consecutive words in a text. In Apache Solr, Ngrams play a crucial role in various text analysis and search functionalities.

For detailed information about using the Ngram data type in Apache Solr, see its official documentation.

Ngram performance considerations

While Ngrams offer valuable capabilities for text analysis, their usage might lead to certain performance challenges. The following sections highlight performance-related considerations when employing Ngrams in Apache Solr.

Impact on code execution

Operations involving Ngrams, especially when dealing with large datasets or high-order Ngrams, can significantly impact the code execution time. The computational complexity of working with Ngrams increases with the length of the Ngram and the size of the dataset. This might lead to the following time-consuming operations:

• Generating Ngrams: The process of creating Ngrams from the input text might become computationally intensive, especially for longer sequences or larger datasets.

• Matching Ngrams: When using Ngrams for text matching or searching, the matching process might become more time-consuming as the size of the Ngram increases.

• Calculating similarity measures: In some cases, calculating similarity measures between Ngrams might be resource-intensive, affecting the overall performance of the application.

Memory usage and storage considerations

Ngrams can consume substantial memory resources, especially when working with large text corpora or using high-order Ngrams. Storing and processing Ngrams requires additional memory compared to storing raw text data. The increased memory usage might lead to the following challenges:

• Scalability issues: As the size of the dataset grows, the computational demands of working with Ngrams can strain system resources. Scalability becomes a concern when dealing with large-scale applications that require real-time or near real-time processing of Ngrams.

• System performance: The additional memory consumption might impact the system’s ability to handle large-scale applications efficiently, leading to decreased overall performance.

Best practices for using Ngrams

To ensure optimal performance, Acquia recommends you to use the Ngram data type judiciously. Consider the following best practices when working with Ngrams in Apache Solr:

• Evaluate the trade-offs: Before incorporating Ngrams into your application, carefully evaluate the trade-offs between precision and performance in your specific use case. Understand the impact of using Ngrams on the application’s overall speed and resource consumption.

• Optimization techniques: Consider employing optimization techniques to mitigate performance issues associated with Ngrams. Algorithmic improvements and caching mechanisms can help enhance the efficiency of Ngram operations.

• Contextual use: Use Ngrams when they provide significant value in terms of search accuracy or functionality that can enhance text analysis capabilities. However, determine the potential impact on performance and balance this trade-off accordingly.

Using the Ngram data type in Apache Solr